Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], March 24 : He has directed only six films but touched a million hearts. Noted Bengali director Pradeep Sarkar, fondly called as 'dada', passed away at 67 on Friday.
Director Hansal Mehta took to Twitter to confirm the news first.
Actors who have worked with him, gradually opened up their hearts to bid adieu to the director.
Kajol, who featured in Pradeep's last big-screen directorial 'Helicopter Eela', posted a sweet picture where she is seen keeping her head on the director's shoulder. Kajol wrote, "Dada, you will be missed. Your sense of humour, humility and all the work you put into your films will always be remembered. RIP."
Abhishek Bachchan, who worked in 'Laaga Chunari Mein Daag' under Pradeep's direction, wrote, "Terrible news to wake up to. Rest in peace Dada. Thank you for the love and for making me a small part of your life. Will miss you". #PradeepSarkar
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Tahir Raj Bhasin, who made his big-screen debut in Pradeep's 'Marda', got emotional. He wrote on Instagram, "Woke up to the extremely sad news of passing away of Pradeep Dada. I will always remember him with eternal gratitude as the man who trusted me with Marda. He was a maestro whose experience and guidance gave me the confidence to act to my fullest potential in my debut film. He mentored and then gave me space to create a part and in this trust lay his genius. I remember being extremely nervous on day one of shoot. It was a production heavy day, we were holding up traffic and there were a 100 junior artists on set. An intimidating environment for a first timer. After my first take I waited with baited breath as he watched the monitor. After what seemed like an eternity, he yelled out for the entire set to hear, "that was great!". Just that validation from your first director still rings in my ears when I walk on to a set to this day. He was a visionary par excellence, ahead of his time. He lives on in the films he created. May he rest in peace."
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Neil Nitin Mukesh, who acted in 'Lafangey Parindey', wrote, "Will miss you dada. Lafangey Parindey will always remain very close to my heart. Fond Memories of us spending days and months together, to bring your vision to life, will be with me forever. God bless your soul MAN LAFANGA. My prayers with the family. #pradeepsarkar"
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Patralekha, who worked in the series 'Forbidden love', wrote, "Good bye Dada...You will be missed ...Thank you for all the precious memories... I have learnt so much from you .Love and respect always...."
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Apart from films, Pradeep was a celebrated name in the world of advertisements. Walking down the memory lane, popular actor Aamir Ali wrote about his experience of working with Pradeep in an advertisement with Deepika Padukone.
"I donno if I write here how will it help, as the person is no more.. unfortunately we remember people after they are gone.. but I remember just going to his office last year n spending time with him, just as a well wisher where there was no work involved.. just wanted to meet him n get scolded n bullied by him (which I loved as that was his love).. he's the person who always trusted in me as a performer n hav done some of my best commercials adds with him.. when I was new n starting off, met so many people who just talk , be nice n promise , but don't keep their word.. but my grumpy lovable dada was different from the rest n was a genius.. so many big makers of today have assisted him n made their name, so many production houses today have been associated with n n are big today.. have done over 25 commercial adds with him n my best work as a model was with him.. I remember in this add #deepikapadukone 's manager coming up to me n telling me ur director loves u a lot, she told me in a meeting before the add their team had questions n reservations about me, as in who is this guys being cast opp this huge star.. to that dada had replied- u take care of ur star n as I'm confident about my aamir ali.. .dada will always be in my heart n my thoughts.."
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Pradeep's last directorial was a web series, titled 'Duranga.'
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